29 December 2013

Review: 2013

I am beside myself with post-Christmas reading excitement. While many a family find the time proceeding the big turkey day for more family gatherings and adventures in retail therapy, in our house we progress quickly to full sloth mode. Days come and go in which PJs are changed from dirty to clean without ever really contemplating putting on day clothing. The husband of the house may not be seen until 2 in the afternoon, from which he rumbles down the stairs in search of food and subsequently his family. The son, just shy of 4 sports not one, not two but five well-placed DC comic tattoos across his little body as he runs from one activity to another, happily munching on candy canes with side orders of turkey. As for me, the momma, I read and I read and I read, read, read, read. Sitting at my feet are a pile of books, the very books I have asked for on my wish list, plus a few more. There is no greater level of excitement for me than a pile to read through and time to do that very deed. As I sit here typing, the books seems to wink at me, whispering to put the computer aside, bidding me to come and start a new literary adventure. Before I fall into the reading trap I find I must get this one last post out before the new year, after all it has been two years of posting with 2013 being a remarkable year for books. I became part of the Liaden Universe, seriously immersing myself into it's expansive folds of romance and space operatic thematics becoming a fast fan of Lee and Miller. Thanks to a blogger friend I picked up Primary Inversion, falling completely head over heals and as quickly falling out of favour once I moved further into the series. My intentions for Girl's Guide to Sci-Fi has always been two-fold: convince people to read SF while on a personal note become a more rounded SF reader. I found myself picking up books by Pratchett, Banks, Novik, Robinson, Mieville reading old themes and with relief some new. I liked some, raved over others and found disappoint in more books than I thought I would. 2013 was my year of exploration, pushing myself to see how much I truly knew the genre and whether there are parts to it I have left to read (Steam Punk, you on my list for 2014). I pushed myself so far that I burnt myself out, having to reset my gears with a string of mysteries at the end of year. 2013 began with a bang with the discovery of The Rook and the continuation of the Expanse series; I was lost in tales of magic and space operatic horror. Daniel O'Malley became my new author to troll, maybe stalk, discovering if and when the sophomore narrative of his magical world would be out (not it appears any time soon). The process of waiting for an author to a complete, edit, publish and distribute a book was the bane of my year. With many of my favourite reads parts of trilogies, my world of waiting seemed an endless process. To complicate the matter, I decided to return to the library, relinquishing my buying power for good old common sense/cents. And so with library card in hand, I became number 42 on many a waiting list, suddenly having to learn patience and new found willingness to read authors unknown or who I thought were too SF even for me. As you may have predicted, it turns out that nothing is too SF for me, too fantasy yes, but too SF, never.With 2013 closing, my heap of books are ready for 2014. I expect great things this coming year, as should you all. Happy reading!